BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 26 2024
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Gabbro: Wind, Wind and More Wind
Entry Date:
May 16, 2008
Entry Point:
Little Gabbro Lake
Number of Days:
5
Group Size:
8
Since we weren't going in that far we took a more leisurely pace on Friday morning and were to the entry point by 9:00 a.m. Temps were in the low 50's but the wind was starting to pick up. Thankfully we had all of a 40 minute paddle to our campsite--1710 on the north side of Gabbro. We were all very pleased with the site and would rate it much higher than the 3 stars schweady gave it in his review. Even with a group of 8 we found three nice tent pads and the view from kitchen to the east was awesome. The only drawback to the site was the lack of downed cedar and pine for the cooking fire. We found some, but it was a haul to bring it back to camp.
After we set up camp the weather took a turn for the worse. The wind picked up and it started to sprinkle, but that only seemed to help the fishing. Buzz17 and I fished a pool just off the current between Gabbro and Little Gabbro, and in the course of two hours I limited out. The rest of our group tried other areas without a lot of success. We were, however, pleasantly surprised when one of the guys came back to camp with some nice perch.
Probably the excitement for the first day was my battle with the food pack. I overloaded it, so while we were hanging it the handle snapped and it body slammed me into a small rock wall. I survived, but I really felt like a moron. Live and learn to never stand directly below the food pack. 
During breakfast we fished for northern from camp and the bite did not disappoint. One member of our group landed a 32" and a 34" northern about 15 minuets apart. Once we left camp, however the wind picked up and it never subsided. Instead, it only got windier. We went down to the rapids between Gabbro and Bald Eagle and had some luck with the walleyes. The real adventure began, however, on the way back to camp around 3:00 p.m. The wind must have been blowing steadily at 20 mph with gusts over 30 mph. After battling the wind and waves for 10 minutes and watching the approaching storm, my canoe partner and I decided to hit shore to wait things out. About five minutes after we stopped it started to rain and hail--it was about pea sized. With temps in the upper 40's or low 50's this was a real joy. Thankfully, this lasted for about 20 minutes or so and then the winds subsided to maybe 10-15 mph. Everyone in our group made it back to camp safely. That evening we fished with ciscos on slip bobbers from camp and caught several northern 30"+. 
The temp dropped to 32 degrees Saturday night and Sunday morning was windy. In the morning we threw out slip bobbers with ciscos and I landed a 34" northern. But once we left camp, this was probably the slowest day of fishing. We tried between Gabbro and Little Gabbro without much success. And then tried several points in Little Gabbro with just a few small walleye. The wind finally subsided in the evening and the lake became glass. The best part of Sunday, though, was the moonrise and then the bite picked up from camp. Caught two nice walleye and a 14" crappie on slip bobber rigs. A few guys went out in the canoes and caught walleye, crappies and more perch. One of the perch was just over 12". A nice way to end an otherwise very frustrating day. 
It got even colder on Sunday night. According to WeatherChannel.com, the temp dropped to 28 degrees. Thankfully I packed enough warm gear that it wasn't that bad. Temps rebounded to the 50's but once again the wind picked up and fishing during the day was slow. We fished the northeast bays of Gabbro and produced a few walleyes, but once again, the best bite was in the evening after the wind died down. We went up into the end of the northern most bay and found a school of walleye, crappie and perch. 
Thankfully it didn't get as cold as it did the night before. I think the temp dropped to the upper 30's. The morning started out calm but as we packed up camp the wind started to pick up and by the time we hit the water the wind must have been blowing straight out of the west between 15-20 mph and we had to paddle right into it. Once we hit Little Gabbro, though, it didn't seem as bad.
Overall, we had a good trip despite the wind and unstable weather. Based on the feedback I've gotten from everyone in our group, we'll probably do Gabbro again next year. Hope you found this report helpful, if not interesting. If you have questions or want more info, feel free to e-mail me.
thlipsis29